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1918. 

Q U EE NSL A N D. ?J>jk^iVi>AL.cUJ^, 



DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS. 

Report of tlie Uiider Secretarg for Panic Works and CoKerninent Jlrcliitect on liis 
Tour througli Europe, Great Britain, United States of Aierica, and Canada. 



Presented to Parliament and Ordered to be Printed. 



TO THE HO^^OURABLE THE SECRETARY FOR PDBLIC ¥ORKS. 

Department of PubHc Works, 

Brisbane, 6th November, 1913. 
Sir, — In compHance with your instructions to proceed to Europe and 
Great Britain (afterwards extended to the United States of America and Canada) 
for the purpose of inspecting and making myself acquainted with the more recent 
developments in the design and construction of Architectural and Engineering 
works, and to obtain the fullest information respecting the application of the 
various systems of reinforced concrete construction in the erection of buildings 
and other structures, I have the honour to report that I left Brisbane on 2nd 
March last, and joined the Orient liner "Otway" at Melbourne, leaving there 
on 5th March, and arrived at Naples on the 3rd April, where I commenced my 
tour of the principal cities of the Continent. From Naples I proceeded to Rome, 
Florence, and Venice, and then left Italy for Budapest, the capital of Hungary, 
proceeding thence to Vienna, Dresden, and Berlin, and via Cologne, the Rhine, 
and Bingen to Paris. 

I afterwards visited the principal cities in Switzerland, including Geneva, 
Lausanne, Lucerne, and Basle. In Belgium, I visited Brussels and Antwerp, 
and, in Holland, the Hague and Amsterda»m, which completed my tour of the 
continental cities. 

In Great Britain I spent about eleven weeks in all, seven weeks of which 
were devoted to London and its neighbourhood, the remainder of the time being- 
spent in visiting Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Bradford, Glasgow, 
Edinburgh, Oxford, Exeter, and other places. 

I left London on 13th August for Southampton, and sailed on same day for 
New York by the White Star liner " Olympic," arriving in New York on 20th 
August. After a week in that city, I left for Washington ; then returned to New 
York and.proceeded to Boston, from which place I journeyed to Montreal, Quebec, 
Ottawa, and Toronto, thence via Detroit to Chicago. From that city I went 
direct to San Francisco, then via Portland to Seattle, Victoria, B.C., and 
Vancouver, which terminated mj- tour in America and Canada, 
C.A. 100-1913. 



2 .^4- 

I left Vancouver on 1st October by the s.s. " Marama," arriving in Sydney 
on Sunday, 26th October, and, after obtaining release under quarantine 
surveillance, left that city on Tuesday, 28th October, arriving in Brisbane on the 
30th of the month, after an absence of eight months from the State. 

GENERAL. 

During my extensive tour, embracing many of the principal cities of the 
world, I have been able to inspect very many important public works and to note 
the advance that has been made in recent years in the form of construction and 
in the use of many different materials in the erection of buildings, bridges, and 
other worlds. 

I have also had the inestimable advantage of viewing many of the most 
celebrated works in Engineering and in Architecture, both ancient and modern, 
in the countries I have passed through ; some of them of great historical as well 
as artistic interest. 

The advantage of travel and intelligent observation is an education to 
anyone, but to a professional man the value of such travel and properly directed 
inspection and inquiry is almost incalculable. 

Amongst the many public works and official buildings viewed and inspected 
more or less closely during my tour are included Houses of Parliament, Govern- 
ment Offices, Hospitals, Asylums, Prisons, Court Houses, Universities, Technical 
Colleges, Schools, Bridges, Sewerage and Sewage Disposal and Water Works; 
principal amongst which may be mentioned — 

Parliament Houses at Budapest, Vienna, Berlin, Brussels, London, 
Washington, Quebec, Ottawa, Toronto, and Victoria, B.C. 

Government Offices in Rome, Vienna, London, Washington, Quebec, 

Ottawa, and Toronto. 
Hospitals in Vienna, New York, and San Francisco. 
Asylums in Vienna, London, and New Westminster, B.C. 

Prisons in London, New York, Montreal, Seattle, San Francisco, and 
New Westminster, B.C. 

Court Houses in 'Rome, Brussels, Chicago, Seattle, San Francisco, and 
Vancouver. 

Universities in Vienna, Berlin, Lausanne, Oxford, Glasgow, Man- 
chester, New York, Montreal, and Toronto. 

Technical Colleges at Dresden, Charlottenberg (Berlin), Manchester, 
Glasgow, Montreal, and Toronto. 

Schools in many cities on the Continent and in England, also in America 
and Canada. 

Bridges a.tIiom.e, Budapest, Dresden, Berlin, Cologne, Paris, London, 
Manchester, New York, Boston, Quebec, and Montreal. 

Sewerage and Sewage Disposal Works at London, Birmingham, Liver- 
pool, Manchester, Bradford, Glasgow, Seattle, San Francisco, 
and Vancouver. 

Water Purification Works at Florence and Paris. 

In addition to public buildings and works, I also viewed many large ware- 
houses and commercial office buildings in the principal cities visited in Great 
Britain, America, and Canada, a number of which were in course of construction. 



9. of 1. 

JUN € 1916 



I 



I REINFORCED CONCRETE. 

Buriii^:^' my tour I paid particular attention to reinforced concrete con- 
struction, and inspected many buildings and bridges, either completed or under 
construction, on one or other of the many systems of reinforcement employed, 
such as " Hennebique,"' " Kahn," and others. 

Although on the Continent and in Great Britain there are many examples 
of such form of construction, it is in America and the principal cities of Canada 
where reinforced concrete, which lends itself so readily to rapid construction, is 
more genern.lly employed, chiefly in the erection of tall office buildings aiid 
warehouses, often in conjunction with steel frame construction. 

In Rome, I saw a very fine bridge of reinforced concrete over the River 
Tiber, and a number of large apartment houses, railway buildings, and minor 
bridges. 

In London, wharves and warehouses at West India Docks, King's College 
Hostel, General Post Office, His Majesty's Stationery Office, Wesleyan Hall at 
Westminster, and many commercial buildings in the city. 

At Guildford, a road bridge over the river. 

In Manchester, warehouses on the Ship Canal and other premises. 

In Liverpool, the fine Royal Liver^ Insurance building; and many other 
works of more or less importance in various parts of England and the Continent. 

In America and in Canada the examples seen were numerous, particularly 
in New York, ^^oston, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, San Francisco, Seattle, and 
Vancouver. In the latter city I found that several large new public schools were 
being erected of reinforced concrete. In many instances, however, through 
America and Canada, concrete buildings of all classes, except grain elevators, 
retaining walls, and similar structures, are faced externally with brick, stone, or' 
terra-cotta, or a combination of such materials, the grey surface effect of cement 
concrete not being considered sufficiently aesthetic to satisfy the eye. 

The result of this practice is to convey the impression that such buildings 
are constructed wholly of brick, stone, or terra-cotta, as the case may be, and, 
whilst the resulting colour and architectural effects are undoubtedly good and 
pleasing, the cost is increased considerably. 

Steel reinforcement used consists of plain rods, both round and square, 
and deformed bars of different makes, some twisted and others indented, with the 
obiect of obtaining a better mechanical bond with the concrete and increasing 
the resistance of the rods to a .pulling force. 

In conjunction with the steel reinforcing rods, wire netting of square and 
diagonal pattern is used, some of the fabric being electrically welded and others 
twisted and knotted securely in the process of manufacture. 

In America, the electrically welded mesh is very largely used in floors, and 
in the reinforcement surrounding beams and columns. 

Reinforced concrete construction cannot be considered cheap, the amount 
of timber used in the forms or boxing being enormous, and the price of Portland 
cement in Queensland (about eighty shillings (80s.) per ton) is very high compared 
with the cost in Europe and America. 

Steel rods and bars and other reinforcing fabric must be imported at 
considerable cost, all of which factors contribute to the comparatively high cost 
of ferro-concrete construction in this State. 



PAELIAMENT HOUSES. 

Budapest has one of the most magnificent Parliament Houses in Europe, 
completed ten years ago at a cost of one and a-half millions sterling. It is a 
veritable palace, and provides not only for every comfort and convenience, but 
for the luxury of the members. The Assembly Chamber is horseshoe shaped in 
plan, and is sumptuously furnished and most artistically decorated. Each member 
is provided with a separate desk and seat. 

The Quebec Parliamentary Buildings is a most imposing pile, and is 
conveniently placed under one roof with the Provincial Government Departments. 
The Legislative Council Chamber is known as the "Red Chamber," and the 
Legislative Assembly Chamber as the "Green Chamber," from the general colour 
scheme and the furnishing. The Assembly Chamber at the time of my visit was 
undergoing renovation. 

The Dominion Parliament Houses and Library at Ottawa are an excep- 
tionally fine group of buildings, situated on an eminence amidst beautiful gardens 
overlooking the Ottawa River, and the interior of the buildings is excellently 
planned and finished. 

The Upper Houses in the Dominion and Provincial Parliamentary Build- 
ings in Canada are provided with single desks and seats for the Senators or 
councillors, and the Assembly Chambers with dual desks and seats for the 
members. 

VIENNA HOSPITAL. 

The new Kaiser Jubilee Hospital, at Vienna, recently completed at a cost 
of £350,000, for the accommodation of one thousand patients, is one of the most 
complete institutions of its kind in Europe. It comprises a fine range of well- 
designed buildings, excellently finished and equipped, and is situated on a 
commanding site a few miles out of the city. 

NEW YORK. 

Some very fine additions have recently been made to the Belle Vue Hospital 
at New York, comprising large wards and sanitary conveniences. This hospital 
is an immense institution, situated in a densely populated part of the city of New 
York, and is considered one of the best in America. 

SAN FRANCISCO. 
I also saw a very large hospital at San Francisco, on the eve of completion, 
comprising a magnificent group of brick and stone buildings in the city, fitted 
with every modern appliance for the treatment of the sick poor, and on a scale one 
only sees in the larger cities of the world. 

VIENNA HOSPITAL FOR INSANE. 

The principal Hospital for Insane in Vienna is situated in well-laid-out 
grounds and beautiful gardens, adjoining the Kaiser Jubilee Hospital, and 
accommodates 3,500 patients. The buildings were completed about nine years 
ago, and are excellent in design, finish, and equipment, far ahead of anything of 
the kind I have seen elsewhere. 

LONG-GROVE, EPSOM, NEx\R LONDON, HOSPITAL FOR INSANE. 
Accommodates 1,600 patients and embodies all the best features of a 
modern asylum, set in well-laid-out and excellently kept gardens. 




COQUITLAM, B.C. 

A new Asylum is being erected at Coquitlam, near New Westminster, 
British Columbia, to accommodate 1,600 patients. The first of the range of 
buildings has been completed and recently occupied by 600 chronic male patients. 
The building is constructed of reinforced concrete faced externally with 4^-inch 
brickwork. The building is five storeys high, comprising basement, three storeys 
for wards, and an attic storey. The ward floors are of maple wood laid on 
concrete, and the remaining floors, including corridors, bathrooms, &c., are of 
concrete, finished with Terrazzo or marble chips of various colours and cement 2 
inches thick, rolled and polished, which makes a most excellent floor. Those 
floors have a margin of marble to all rooms and corridors. 

MONTREAL NEW GAOL. 

An exceedingly fine new Gaol on modern lines is being erected by the 
Government of the Province of Quebec, at Bordeaux, 9 miles from Montreal, to 
accommodate 1,100 male prisoners on the single-cell system. 

The plan of the Gaol consists of six wings, branching or radiating from a 
central rotunda. The buildings are approaching completion, part being occupied, 
and are constructed of granite, Scotch firebricks, terra-cotta, and reinforced 
concrete, fireproof throughout, and will cost when completed about £700,000. 
The rotunda is 120 feet in diameter and two storeys high. From each storey a full 
view of the interior and exterior of each of the wings may be had. Each wing is 
four storeys high, the ground floor being used for workshops, kitchens, laundries, 
&c., and the three upper floors for cells. There are six rows of cells in each wing 
with aisles, each 20 feet wide, passing down between the different rows from end 
to end of the wings. Cells for prisoners awaiting trial are 8 feet wide and for 
convicted prisoners 6 feet 3 inches wide, all being 11 feet long and 9 feet high. 

The upper floor of the rotunda contains the chapel for the Roman Catholic 
prisoners. The Protestants, being only about 25 per cent, of the total prison 
population, have a smaller chapel in the Administration building. 

Special attention has been given to the method of locking and opening the 
cell doors. A system of levers operates in such a manner that every door on one 
side of a ward may be opened at once, or one-third of them may be opened at a 
time, or, if desired, one alone may be opened and the remainder stay closed. 
Again, if it is necessary to prevent the prisoners from slamming the doors back 
and forth they may be locked open. The thirty-three doors along one side of a 
ward weigh two tons, but these can be removed all at once by one man using the 
levers. 

The cell floors are constructed of terra-cotta blocks 10 inches thick 
cemented. Each division wall of the cells is of concrete 4 inches thick, reinforced 
with ^-inch diameter steel bars, and is carried on a steel girder. 

Each cell is fitted with a lavatory basin and a W.C, water being laid on; 
a folding table which, when secured to the wall, may be used as a blackboard, 
chalk being supplied for the prisoners' use. 

Each cell has a folding wire-wove mattress and bed, which is secured to the 
wall by spring clips when not in use. 

Electric light is provided throughout the gaol, each cell having a separate 
light, and double windows for waiinth in winter. 

The cells for the insane are of novel construction, each cell having- three 
doors; should an insane prisoner become unmanageable and violent, ths guards 
can enter the cell from three sides at once and ovei'power him before he can injure 
anyone. 



The kitchen is a roomy apartment, fitted up with every modern convenience. 
From the kitchen small trucks run on narrow-gauged tracks to a small elevator 
that runs up directly under the tower. This carries the huge pots of soup to the 
six wickets on the main floor. Past this three times a day the prisoners march, 
each one to receive his portion ; this he carries to his cell. 

The gaol buildings are enclosed by two walls, with a space of 18 feet between 
— the outer wall 24 feet and the inner wall 18 feet in height. 

The cells are light and airy, and unruly prisoners will not be manacled or 
chained to a ring in the wall, as had been the practice in the old gaol, but outside 
the cell door is a hose and turncock. 

The gaol has its own power house, where electricity is generated for the 
purpose of pumping the water used throughout the building for other purposes. 

The sanitary conveniences and fittings are of the most modern design. 

A complete system of drainage and sewage treatment has been installed, 
including septic tanks, bacterial beds, filtration, and final or end treatment with 
chlorine before discharge into the St. Lawrence River. 

OTHER PRISONS INSPECTED. 

Wormwood Scriils Prison, London, has accommodation for 1,420 male 
prisoners, and has a spacious and well-equipped gymnasium for youthful offenders 
under 21 years of age, who are reported as medically fit; a school room for all 
prisoners under 40 years of age, whose early education has been neglected; a 
large lecture-room, where lectures and instruction in seamanship are given to 
young prisoners who may desire to go to sea after completing their sentences; and 
a very fine chapel, which has seating accommodation for 1,000 prisoners. 

The " Tombs " or City Prison of New York is a fine stone building of eight 
storeys, having accommodation for 800 prisoners of both sexes. The upper storeys 
of cells have iron balconies enclosed with iron bars extended to the full height, 
making a complete cage of great strength. The doors or gates of the cells are 
iron-barred gi'illes sliding. Each cell is provided with the usual fixed sanitary and 
lavatory fittings, with water laid on, and has iron bedsteads made to fold against 
the wall when not in use. 

The Prisons in Seattle and San Fi-ancisco are of a different construction. 
The cells are wholly of iron, in groups or series placed in the middle of a large 
room having stone or concrete walls and lighted from the roof. The ceilings and 
the back wall of each range of cells are of iron bars a few inches apart, the division 
walls and front walls to the dividing passage being of solid iron plate, the cell 
doors are also of iron plate, sliding and controlled by a system of levers, opening 
any one or more cells, or the whole of the cells on one side at a time. The warder 
has to call out a warning to the prisoners in the cells before operating the levers 
closing the cell doors, otherwise an unwary prisoner would run the risk of 
decapitation. 

The Provincial Gaol at Safferton, New Westminster, B.C., is having a five- 
storey addition erected in concrete and stone, to contain cells for 300 prisoners. 
The erection of a block of 120 cells has just been completed. The cells have iron 
grille gates or doors hinged, and the opening and closing o[)crated by a system of 
levers. Each cell. has a W.C. and a lavatory basin and the usual furniture. 

McGILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL. 

This University comprises many four and five storey buildings, symmetri- 
cally placed in beautiful grounds in Mount Royal Park, and form a. most 
imi)Osing group. The situation of the University on the slopes of the park, from 
which beautiful views are obtained, is ideal. 



The buildings are all of a permanent character, built of stone and well- 
finished throughout, terra-cotta being largely used in the interior. 

The MacDonald Engineering Buildings, the Physics, and the Chemistry 
and Mining Buildings are fine solid structures, well equipped. 

A new building in course of construction, to be known as the Theological 
College, will differ from the rest of the University Buildings. It is being erected 
of reinforced concrete on the " Kahn " system, and will be faced externally with 
4^-inch brick walls and stone dressings resting on a base of limestone. 

The building will be four storeys in height, and will cost £50,000; 

TOEONTO NEW CENTRAL TECHNICAL COLLEGE. 

The new Central Technical College, now being erected at Toronto, the 
plans of which I had the privilege of inspecting, will be a four-storey building, and 
will cost £280,000, exclusive of land and equipment. The site is nearly six acres 
in extent, almost level, and in a central position. 

The College when completed, it is believed, will be one of the most 
up-to-date institutions of its kind in the world, and will be under the control of the 
Ontario Board of Education. 

The whole of the Departments of the College will be in one block, the 
building being designed to accommodate 2,000 day pupils and 5,000 evening 
pupils. 

The accommodation provided for embraces an Assembly Hall, with 
seating capacity for 1,500 persons; a lecture theatre, with seating capacity for 
200 persons; four lecture rooms, each with a preparation room and seats for 100 
persons ; thirty class rooms, each with an adjacent coat room, and each accommo- 
dating 40 persons at single desks; twenty workshops, including a construction 
room, 81 feet by 39 feet by 25 feet high (the construction room is a novel feature, 
in which it is intended to erect complete buildings by student labour, including 
the finishing and decoration of such structures) ; twelve Chemical, Physieal and 
Engineering laboratories ; fourteen drafting and design rooms, including rooms 
for clay modelling and wood carving ; one Mathematics laboratory ; four kitchens ; 
one laundry ; two millinery workshops ; two sewing rooms ; two dressmaking rooms ; 
one power machine room; suite of model rooms — dining room, kitchen, bedroom, 
and bathroom ; one gymnasium, 46 feet by 91 feet and 18 feet high in the clear ; 
one swimming pool, 31 feet by 65 feet, twenty-four shower baths, dressing room 
with forty dressing boxes ; twelve locker rooms, each accommodating 100 lockers ; 
three assembly rooms and one bicycle room, one supply (store) room; two lunch 
rooms; one Exhibition room; one reading room and library; three Office and 
Board rooms; twelve office workrooms for the heads of departments and their 
assistants; and power plant with boilers to provide about 1,000 horsepower. 

MONTREAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL. 

The Technical School at Montreal was opened about two years ago, and 
for its size the building and equipment are said to be amongst the finest in either 
America or Europe. 

The building is in two sections, the Workshops being in the rear of the 
main building. 

The cost, including equipment, but exclusive of the site, was £140,000. 

The main building, which is fireproof, comprises the offices of administra- 
tion in the front and behind them the several suites used for teaching, the latter 
including six class rooms, two amphitheatres, with a seating capacity of 100 each, 
a physical and raechanicjil lai)orato!v, a chemical laboratory, a store room for 
materials, a museum of indListries, a library, recreation rooms, the apartments 
of the Principal, those of the janitor, and those of the Engineer. 



8 

In the centre of the main building is a large semi-ciicular amphitheatre, 
with a seating capacity of 650. The class rooms are large, well lighted, and 
well ventilated. There are, in addition, a lunch room, a Jarge waiting room, 
hygienic toilet rooms, and shower baths. 

The workshops are laid out in exactly the same way as are the shops in 
industrial concerns, being provided with modern machinery (from Canada, 
United States, England, and France), and presenting the appearance of a large 
well-equipped workshop. The necessary plant for the generation of motor power, 
light, and heat is situated in the centre, surrounded by the various workshops. 
The machine shop has an area of 11,340 square feet, the foundry room of 5,210 
square feet, the forge room of 5,210 square feet, the woodworking shop of 6,811 
square feet, and the electrical room of 2,714 square feet. 

The Superintendent and all Workshop Instructors teach in French and 
English, and are efficient in both languages. All the Woi-kshop Instructors are 
practical foremen in their respective trades, and were appointed as the result of 
a competitive examination. The Engineer also gives practical instruction in 
the boiler and engine rooms. 

Charlottenherg, Be?'lin, has a Technical High School on an excellent plan, 
spacious, and well designed, standing in beautiful grounds. The various lecture 
theatres, class rooms, and laboratories were most completely equipped, and the 
large collection of Engineering and Architectural models, drawings, and 
photographs of important works for students' reference and instruction was 
exceedingly fine, and is being constantly added to. 

The MunicijKd School of Technology at Manchester, erected and equipped 
at a cost of £300,000, I found an admirably planned building, with a very 
handsome examination hall, and most completely fitted and furnished in all 
departments. 

The internal walls are lined with white bricks above glazed brick dados, 
and the floors throughoutare of polished parquet. 

SCHOOL BUILDINGS. 

During my tour I have inspected a considerable number of public school 
buildings in the different countries visited, but in the majority of cases I found 
the schools of a character or design quite unsuited to the Queensland climate. 

Many of the buildings are of four and five store}S, without verandas or 
shade of any kind, and depend for ventilation on mechanical means, the class rooms 
in some instances being almost hermetically sealed, the air being pumped in 
through ducts from the basement and extracted in a similar way. 

Dr. John C. Fish, head of the State Hospital for Crippled Children at 
Canton, near Boston, states that — 

" Boston schoolrooms are not properly ventilated. It is a mistaken 
idea that basement air taken in through boxes and ducts, which 
accumulate dust, is better for the child. What should be introduced is 
the direct system. The old style of schoolroom, where the windows and 
doors were opened directly, were far better for the children than the 
modern room, with its closed windows and doors and basement air. 

" In his building, where fresh air is admitted freely through open 
windows and doors, they have no case of catarrhal cold in the head, 
while in a modern schoolroom of the Boston type he had found the 
great majority of children suffering from head colds, and with the 
closing of the doors and windows and the indirect system of ventilation 
came tuberculosis very largely." 



9 

Such a condition of things does not exist in Queensland, where our 
modern school buildings, aptly termed "fresh air" schools, have an ample 
provision of window and door openings for the free admission of fresh air. 

One of the Medical Inspectors of Schools, in a report to the Department 
of Public Instruction, stated that at Junction Park State School he saw the only 
two perfect class rooms he had ever seen, and that there was not a flaw in the 
design of these rooms. 

The Secretary and the Architect of the Board of Education for greater 
New York were good enough to afford me some information respecting New 
York Public Schools, permitting me to inspect the plans of many primary and 
secondary schools, also of new high schools, and to visit some of the school 
buildings in the city. 

The Board expends annually a sum equal to £1,400,000 in new Schools in 
Greater New York, the cost per scholar being over £40. 

The buildings are of brick and stone, three to five storeys high, with 
concrete floors and slate and tile roofs, and fireproof throughout. No schools of* 
reinforced concrete have yet been constructed by the Board, as it has not so 
far been found economical to depart from their present designs. 

The lighting of all class rooms is, as is now adopted in Queensland, from 
the left side, some of the class rooms in favourable positions being flooded with 
light. 

There are no open-air schools in New York as we understand them m 
Queensland, but one or two corner rooms, reserved for anaemic and tubercular 
children in each large school, have large window openings with pivoted sashes 
on two sides of the room instead of one side only. This admits of a good supply 
of fresh air entering the class rooms, and they are named " open air " in conse- 
quence, but in reality the rooms do not approach so nearly to open air conditions 
as in our own Queensland schools of modern design. 

Several of the disused ferry steamers on the Hudson and East Rivers are 
temporarily used as " open air ' schools for aneemics and consumptives. 

In some of the larger schools in densely populated parts of New York, the 
flat roof of the building intended as a playground is also made use of for classes. 

The atmosphere of New York is generally clear and bright. 

Amongst the plans shown to me of new schools to be erected in New York 
were those of two buildings to house intermediate schools, or those into which 
the upper grades of neighbouring schools are drawn. It is considered that the 
area of relief from congestion afforded by such type of schools is greater than 
that afforded by the construction of full-grade schools. 

The two intermediate schools about to be erected will be organised in the 
following mann'er, which will serve to show the provision made in such schools : — 

Public School 54, Intervale Avenue and Freeman street, Bronx. — Thirty- 
six rooms for boys and girls of the seventh and eighth years, auditorium (seating 
800) on ground floor, two gymnasiums (one for boys and one for girls), two 
cooking rooms, three workshops, one science room, one drawing room, one 
sewing room, one bath, and roof playground. 

Public School 55, St. Paul's Place and Washington Avenue, Bronx. — Two 
rooms for kindergarten boys and girls, thirty-four rooms for boys and girls of 
the seventh and eighth years, auditorium on ground floor (seating 800), two 
gymnasiums (one for boys and one for girls), two cooking rooms, three workshops, 
one science room, one drawing room, one sewing room, one bath, and roof 
playground. 



io 

A type of full-grade school to be erected is as follows : — Twenty-six class 
room buildings on site at Neck road and Vansicklen road, Gravesend, Brooklyn, 
one room for kindergarten boys and girls, six rooms for boys and girls of the first 
and second years, six rooms for boys and girls of the third and fourth years, five 
rooms for boys and girls of the fifth and sixth years, four rooms for boys and girls 
of the seventh and eighth years, one room for an ungraded class. Auditorium on 
first floor, gymnasium and playground in basement, cooking-room, and workshop. 

The public schools of Toronto, under the Ontario Department of Education, 
I found quite up to date. The Chief Inspector of Schools and the Superintendent 
of School Buildings kindly allowed me to examine plans and to inspect several 
typical school buildings in the city and suburbs. 

The lighting is invariably from the left side, and the sjating on the single 
desk and seat system. 

All the school buildings are substantially erected of brick and stone, and 
are of several storeys in height. 

As an experiment, an " open air " school, termed a " Forest school," has been 
erected a few miles out of the city for the accommodation of anaemic and 
tubercular children. It comprises a shed closed on one side and at one end, with a 
small kitchen at the closed end. The children are taught in the open air of the 
forest when the weather is fine, the single desks and seats being carried out into 
the open and arranged in classes, and the blackboards are slung between 
convenient trees. In rainy weather the children are taught in the shed. 

Suitable food is cooked in the kitchen attached to the shed, and the sickly 
children attending this school are not only fed at proper intervals during the day, 
but are allowed frequent periods of rest. 

Some of the finest public schools I have seen anywhere are those in 
Vancouver. 

The Secretary and Superintendent of Buildings kindly accompanied me 
to some of the principal school buildings in the city, and conducted me over 
several in course of construction. 

All liew schools are constructed as nearly fireproof as possible, reinforced 
concrete being the material used, but faced externally with thin brick and stone 
work. 

The schools aie all four and five storeys in height, and are of excellent 
design, finished internally in a most superior manner, the sanitary and lavatory 
provision being equal to that of a modern hotel of the first class. W.C.'s 
of the latest pattern, with marble divisions, nickel fittings, etc., urinals of glazed 
earthenware of modern design, marble basins, Terrazza floors — in fact, up to date 
in all respects. 

The aveiage cost of school buildings in Vancouver, including furnishing, 
is about £33 per scholar. 

In Canada generally, and in Vancouver in particular, no sum is considered 
too great to spend on school buildings. 

All the schools in Vancouver are known by distinctive names, and not by 
the names of the districts. Those I inspected were named the "King Edward,' 
the "Charles Dickens," the " Dawson," and so on. The "Dawson" school is just 
about completed, and will shortly be opened. It will accommodate 1,000 
children, and has cost about £33,000. We should have to have much lai-gei- 
parliamentary votes to aftord schools of this class in Queensland. In no place 
in the world are schools erected at so low a cost per scholar accommodated as in 
Queensland, where the expenditure on buiklings ranges from £5 Io £8 pc^- lioad. 
In New South Wales the schools cost from £15 to £18 per pupil. 



11 

It must not be overlooked, however, that the special heating and ventilating 
plants required in Canadian schools add considerably to the cost of their 
buildings, such items being entirely absent in schools in Queensland and New 
South Wales. 

the floors of all class rooms in Vancouver schools are of concrete, covered 
with thick linoleum without pattern, and the corridors, conveniences, etc., are of 
Terrazzo on concrete, the staircases, being of cement concrete, with patent 
non-slipping treads. 

All class rooms are of a size to accommodate fifty children, are amply 
lighted from one side only, and are furnished throughout with single desks and 
seats. This form of desking and seating is general throughout all schools in 
Canada and in the United States, and necessitates the provision of a larger area 
of floor space than we have been accustomed to provide in Queensland for a 
given number of children. 

On the whole, the newer schools of Queensland compare not unfavourably 
with those of other countries in respect of lighting, ventilation, and general 
suitability for the purposes of primary education, having regard to climatic 
conditions and the limited funds at the disposal of the Department. Given more 
money and more can be done. 

STEEL FRAMED BUILDINGS. 

I saw many tall steel framed buildings, both completed and under 
construction, in New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle, and Vancouver. 

It is " early days " for such structures in Queensland, but as examples of 
engineering and building not seen in this side of the world, I found them of very 
great interest. 

In nearly all cases the steel frames are enclosed with reinforced concrete 
and terra-cotta. The tallest steel framed structure of its kind in the world is the 
Woolworth Building in Broadway, fifty-five storeys and 780 feet in height. This 
is a magnificent building of Gothic design, erected as an oflice building at a cost 
of £2,600,000. Reinforced concrete enters largely into its construction, and the 
external walls are faced with white terra-cotta. 

A still higher building is now projected in New York for the Pan-American 
Association. This building is to be 900 feet high, or 120 feet higher than the 
Woolworth Building. 

The new City Hall in New York, now approaching completion, is another 
fine example of a steel-framed and reinforced concrete structure. It is only 
twenty-six storeys in height, but is a very imposing building, embracing not only 
two blocks, but an intervening street, over which it is built. Chambers street is 
carried through a wide archway in the lower storeys of the building. The cost 
will be about £1,600,000. 

LONDON. 

Barking Sewage Outfall Works. 

{Northern Main Drainage of London.) 

The area of the Metropolis, north of the River Thames, is about 79 square 
miles, with a population amounting in all to 3,'500,000, and drains into the various 
local and main sewers, which latter are, for the most part, situated in the valleys, 
and formerly discharged directly into the Thames or Lea at thirty-four outlets. 

The late Metropolitan Board of Works constructed the intercepting sewers, 
three in number, which run practically at right angles to the main sewers, and at 



12 

a deeper level, so that the sewage, instead of passing through them and into the 
Thames, drops into these intercepting sewers at the points of intersection, and is 
conveyed to the outfall works at Barking. Two of these intercepting sewers 
convey the sewage by gravitation to the outfall works, the area drained by them 
being that north, of Oxford street and its continuations in an easterly direction. 
The sewage from the area on the south of these intercepting sewers has to be 
pumped 19^ feet first, as regards 12 square miles at Grosvenor road, and then, as 
regards the whole low-level area at Abbey Mills, at which point the sewage is 
lifted to a height of 38 feet into the Northern Outfall Sewer, where it mingles 
with the sewage being conveyed by the gravitation sewers. 

The Northern Outfall Sewer, from Abbey Mills to the outfall works, a 
length of 4^ miles, now consists of five sewers, built side by side at the same level, 
and each about 9 feet in diameter, the five being calculated to discharge 55,000 
cubic feet per minute. Two additional outfall sewers having been constructed a 
year or two ago, forming part of the works authorised for the extension of the 
main drainage scheme for London, which, when completed, will consist of five 
lines of intercepting sewers through London from west to east, instead of three, 
as at the present time. 

The daily dry weather flow of the gravitation sewers is about 56,400,000 
gallons, and of the low-level sewers, 75,000,000 gallons, or about 40 gallons per 
head of the population. 

The precipitation tanks, in which the suspended matters in the sewage 
are thrown down, are thirteen in number, each 30 feet in width, and from 860 to 
1,210 feet in length, holding collectively 20,000,000 gallons, or about 2f hours' 
sewage flow during tlie period of maximum discharge, after making allowance for 
those out of work for cleansing operations. The chemical treatment consists in 
the addition to eacli gallon of sewage of from four to five grains of lime in solution, 
and about one grain of protosulphate of iron, also in solution. The sewage is 
first treated with lime in the ratio of { ton to each 1,000,000 gallons (or about 
15,397 tons are used per annum), and then 1/16 ton of protosulphate of iron 
(dissolved by steam) is added to each 1,000,000 gallons (or about 3,334 tons are 
used per annum) ; the whole is discharged into the precipitation tanks, where 
the suspended matters subside whilst the clarified effluent passes over a weir into 
the old storage reservoir, and thence into the River Thames. 

The sludge passes from the precipitation tanks through screens, and is 
first pumi:)ed into tanks in which it is allowed to settle, the liquor being carefully 
drawn oft' by falling weirs, the sediment containing an average of 91.89 per cent, 
of moisture; and, secondly, pumped into the steamers, then transported to 
Black Deep, some 52 miles below the outfall works, by means of special sludge 
steamers, each of 1,000 tons carrying capacity. The quantity thus disposed of 
is about 33,000 tons weekly. One ton of sludge was extracted from 33,620 
gallons of sewage. 

BIRMINGHAM SEWAGE DISPOSAL WORKS. 

I made a careful inspection of the above works, situated at Saltley, 
Minworth, and Yardley, and obtained very complete and detailed particulars for 
future reference. 

The purification system has been converted from land irrigation to 
biological filters. 

The biological plant includes u]:>\vards of 54 aci-es of bacteria beds or 
percolation filters, storm water tanks, sludge disposal works, etc. 

The main outfall sewers are four in number; they intercept the sewers in 
the principal watersheds, and converge at Saltley Disposal Works, where they 
first enter the detritus pit. The sewage is freed of about 25 per cent, of the total 



13 

suspended matter in the detritus pit, then it passes in parallel five large sedimenta- 
tion tanks, having a capacity of rather more than 1,000,000 gallons each, and a 
rate of flow of 12 feet per hour, with the result that mere settlement frees it of 
another 50 per cent, of the total suspended solids. A subsequent settlement is 
undergone by the sewage in the balancing tank at Saltley before it enters the 
8-feet conduit en route to Minworth; this tank contains about 7,000,000 gallons, 
and at arrival at Minworth it passes through 22 tanks, which have an aggregate 
capacity of 1,632,000 gallons. The sewage is then sprayed over bacteria beds or 
percolating filters, one of the functions of wdiich is to convert the albuminoid 
ammonia present in the sewage into carbonic acid, free ammonia, and nitrates. 
This is done by organisms working in the presence of oxygen. The bacteria bed 
IS, therefore, constructed to provide the best possible conditions for promoting 
and maintaining in a healthy state organisms capable "of performing their 
functions. 

One reason given for adopting the percolation bed in preference to the 
contact bed was that the percolating beds are cheaper in construction. It is 
believed that the success of the process is dependent upon the free admission of 
air into the heart of the bed, and that the air supplied to a contact bed can only 
be equal to the volume of sewage treated, whereas it may be equal to many times 
that volume in a well-constructed percolating bed, a better effluent being the 
result. The sew^age is distributed by spray jets on fixed lines of pipes and by 
Adams and Candy's distributors of the Barker-Mill type. The iilter beds are 
variously composed of gasW'Orks ashes, hard slag, gravel, and broken stone to a 
depth of 6 feet, laid over aerating tiles resting on a smooth concrete floor, with 
enclosing walls of rubble stone. 

The bacterial beds purify sewage at the rate of 800,000 gallons per acre per 
day or 85 gallons per cubic yard of medium. 

MANCHESTER. 

The Treatment of Sewage at Davyhulme. 

The original works, which first came into operation early in 1894, were 
designed for the treatment of the sew^age by chemical precipitation. The new 
works for bacterial treatment of the sewage were completed in 1904 so far as to 
permit of the whole of the flow being dealt with in tanks and primary and 
secondary contact beds. The bacterial processes are conducted in several stages — 
viz. : — 

Settlement and screening out of the grosser solids. 

Aneerobic decomposition in the septic tank ; and 

Oxidation on bacteria beds. 

The sew-age as it reaches the works passes through a system of screens and 
catch pits, designed to intercept coarser floating matter and heavy detritus. The 
flow is either passed through open septic tanks on to primary bacteria beds, or, 
after simple sedimentation, on to the storm beds. 

Whereas the primary beds are fed at a single point in the centre of one side 
of each bed, the secondary beds, being generally larger, are fed at two points, 
at each of which the sewage is admitted from the supply channel and delivered 
through a bell mouth into a distributing reservoir, from which it flows over a 
sill or weir of semi-circular form on to the bed surface. 

The sludge which settles or which accumulates in the course of time in the 
septic tanks flows by gravity or is pushed by manual labour into channels leading 
to two ejectors, from which it is forced under air pressure into two storage 



14 

tanks near the banks of the Ship Canal, below Barton Locks. From these tanks 
it flows by gravity into the sludge steamer, and is deposited at sea beyond the 
Mersey Bar. 

Full details of these works have been furnished me for future reference. 



BRADFORD SEWAGE DISPOSAL SCHEME. 

Leading Features. 

Main outfall sewer from Frizinghall — 10 feet diameter, circular, gradient 
1 in 2,000, discharging capacity about 180,000,000 gallons per day, in tunnel for 
about 2f miles.' 

Intercepting sewer from Eccleshill and Idle — 2 feet 4 inches wide by 3 feet 
6 inches high, egg-shaped, gradient 1 in 630, discharging capacity about 
12,000,000 gallons per day. 

Detritus tanks — 2 tanks, 10 feet deep, with a total capacity of about 
1,000,000 gallons. 

Aire Valley crossing to the precipitation tanks on the high level. 

Precipitation tanks — First series of 20 tanks, average depth 7 feet 8 inches, 
with a total capacity of about 8,000,000 gallons. 

Second series of 20 tanks, average depth 10 feet 2 inches, with a total 
capacity of about 11,500,000 gallons. 

Bacterial filters— 52 acres at the Apperley Bridge end of the Estate, and 
8 acres at the Baildon end. 

Land irrigation — About 400 acres, half surface irrigation only. 

Storm water tanks — Seven tanks, average depth G feet, with a total 
capacity of about 11,500,000 gallons. 

Sludge disposal buildings and works at Strangford Hill, covering about 1 
acre, and comprising grease house, press house, boiler house, and engine house. 

The area of land acquired amounts to 1,856 acres, of which 900 acres can 
be commanded for sewage purposes by gravitation. To convey the sewage to 
Esholt two sewers are required : the Eccleshill and Idle intercepting sewer-^which 
has been completed, and is now in operation, and serves that part of the city after 
which it is named — and the main sewer from Frizinghall. The latter will be 
more than 5,000 yards long, and will be chiefly in tunnel with a diameter of 10 
feet. It has been designed to meet the requirements of the city for a hundred 
years. Near the River Aire, at Apperley Bridge, it has been necessary to 
provide a pumping station to lift the sewage of the low-lying area 100 feet, and 
discharge it into the intercepting sewer. 

The exceptional character of the sewage involves a system of treatment 
of corresponding complexity. Upon reaching the estate the sewage will be 
discharged to detritus tanks. Of these there will be two, with a total capacity 
of 1,000,000 gallons. A short sedimentation will suffice to remove from the 
sewage much heavy matter, such as road grit, stones, and rags, and provision 
is made for the clearing of the tanks day by day by means of a bucket dredge. 
Freed of its heaviest materials, the sewage will next be screened through a 
number of automatic self-cleaning machines, designed especially to deal with 
sewage containing a quantity of wool. 

At the detritus tanks will be placed the storm-water overflows. The street 
surface water drains of the city are conducted into the general sewers, so that 
special provision has to been made for dealing with the enormous volume of 
water brought down in time of storm. Any excess volume of sewage over 



30,000,000 gallons per day will be dealt with by simple settlement in special tanks, 
of which theie are seven, with a total capacity of about 11,500,000 gallons. From 
these tanks the storm water will discharge direct to the river. 

In normal times, the whole of the sewage, and in storm times as much 
as 30,000,000 gallons a day, will be treated by chemicals and passed into the 
precipitation tanks. To reach these the sewage will be conveyed across the 
valley by means of a high-level aqueduct. The precipitation tanks will be 
divided into two series, each consisting of twenty tanks, and the whole will have 
a covering area of 13| acres. Here the sludge will be deposited, and the clear 
tank effluent water will pass over weirs into the effluent channel. It will then 
be conveyed by means of two conduits contouring the valley — one in the 
direction of Baildon and the other in the direction of Apperley Bridge — either 
to artificial filters or to land irrigation areas, where the final purification of the 
effluent will be carried out. 

For land filtration 200 acres of land near the river will be used for 
intermittent treatment, and in addition 200 acres of heavier land on the hillside 
will be available for surface irrigation. To complete the filtration the scheme 
included an area of 60 acres of artificial filters, estimated to cost nearly £500,000. 
This portion of the scheme the Local Government Board have allowed the 
Corporation to defer until the results of experiments now being carried out on 
30 acres of land adjoining the river have been ascertained. 

The precipitation tanks will be operated to yield a sludge containing 
about 80 per cent, of water. This sludge will be discharged to an underground 
reservoir at Strangford. From this reservoir the sludge is lifted by means of two 
30-ton vessels operated by compressed air, and is carried into the sludge 
disposal buildings, which have been erected close to the reservoir. Here the 
sludge is passed into two steel vessels provided with silent steam heaters, which 
raise the temperature of the material nearly to the boiling point of water. By 
this means the grease is rendered liquid and the separation of both grease and 
water from the solid matter is facilitated. To effect this extraction the sludge 
is carried forward from the heaters into another series of closed vessels, from 
which, by means of compressed air, it is forced into filter presses. 

The solid matter remaining in the filter presses constitutes an excellent 
manure for agricultural purposes. It may be discharged in the cake form direct 
to raihvay wagons, or it may be completely dried and disintegrated for those 
merchants who prefer the material in the form of a fine powder. Provision is 
made for the storage of the dried material to await marketing. 

The liquid from the filter presses, consisting of grease and water, is 
conveyed into a large cast-iron separating vat. Here the grease accumulates on 
the surface, and is constantly run off and pumped into the grease purifying vats 
established in the grease house. The water from the separator is taken from a 
point near the bottom of the tank and is pumped back into the crude sewage. 

The final process is the purification of the grease. This is effected in 
sixteen vats of steel lined with heavy sheet lead. Here the grease is boiled up 
with sulphuric acid and any other chemicals which may be thought necessary, 
the action being directed to remove the water and impurities contained in the 
grease. After the refinement has been concluded, the vats are allowed to stand 
for twenty-four hours. The grease is then in a marketable condition, and is 
delivered p.:cked in barrels or in tank wagons provided by customers. 

To deal with the sludge from the precipitation tanks, buildings have been 
erected and machinery installed. The buildings comprise engine house, boiler 
house, a press house for 128 filter presses, and a grease house, together' with a 



16 

branch siding connected with the main line of the Midland Railway, and a canal 
basin connected with the Leeds and LiverjDOol Canal. A niessroom and works 
for the manufacture of the sulphuric acid used in precipitation of the sewage have 
yet to be constructed. 

GLASGOW SEWAGE PURIFICATION WORKS. 

The Dalmuir Sewage Purification Works are situated on the banks of the 
Clyde, at the west end of Clydebank. They deal with the sewage from what is 
known iis the Western District — that is, (a) the sewage from the portion of the 
city of Glasgow situated on the north side of the Iviver Clyde which is not dealt 
with at the Eastern Sewage Purification Works, Dalmarnock; (h) the sewage 
from the Burghs of Partick and Clydebank ; and (c) the sewage from the portion 
of the County of Renfrew which is situated on the north side of the River Clyde, 
between the Burghs of Partick and Clydebank. 

Stated shortly, the manner in which the sewage is purified is as follows : — 
The rough floating material is taken out of the sewage by means of the screens 
in the screen house. The sewage then Hows into the catch pit. Here the heavy 
matter in suspension, such as road scrapings, grit, sand, etc., sinks to the 
bottom and is removed by means of a dredger. Here also the precipitating 
chemicals are added. The sewage is led from the catch pit into one or other of 
the eight precipitation tanks. While the sewage flows very slowly through those 
tanks, the purification j^rocess goes on, and at the far end of the tanks the purified 
effluent flows into the effluent channel, and thence into the River Clyde. Each 
tank is regularly emptied, and the sludge or heavy matter which has deposited on 
the bottom of the tank is drained into the sludge well, and from it pumped up 
into the elevated sludge tank. From the sludge tank the slu^dge flows by 
gravitation into the hold of the sludge steamer, which is then lying in the works 
dock. 

Full details of the works have been obtained for reference. 



SEWERAGE. 

The sewage of Montreal is discharged into the St. Lawrence River; the 
sewage of New York into the Hudson and East Rivers ; the sewage of Seattle 
into Puget Sound; Liverpool, by a number of outfalls, direct into the Mersey; 
the sewage of San Francisco into the Bay; and the sewage of Vancouver into 
Burrard Inlet, an arm of the sea — all without treatment or purification. 

PUECH-CHABAL SYSTEM OF WATER PURIFICATION. 

Multiple Filtration. — The system of purification by multiple or successive 
filtration has been extensively adopted in recent years, and has reached a high 
state of development, chiefly through the energies of Puech and Chabal, 

The principle of multiple filtration on the Puech system is founded on 
the ascertained fact that the formation of a film, either natural or artificial, on 
the surface of the filtering medium is neither necessary nor desirable. 

The water is completely clarified previous to filtration by passing it 
through layers of gravel arranged in a special manner in basins known as 
"Degrossisseurs," or strainers. The arrangement of these preliminary filters is 
varied to suit the water it is proposed to deal with. 

The gravel is graded from coarse to very fine, and, as a rule, the speed 
of the w^ater through the filters is decreased as the beds of finer gravel are 
reached. These gravel beds, while occupying a comparatively small space, will, 



17 

if properly proportioned, effect the complete clarification of the water. The 
action is continuous throughout the whole mass of the filtering materials, and not 
on the surface only, as in the case of fine sand filters. 

The usual slow sand filter is from 4 feet to 5 feet in thickness, but the 
straining action takes place entirely on the surface : even the finest particles of 
mud are arrested in the upper layers of sand, and the remainder of the mass is 
useless except as a reserve of filtering material when the surface layer is removed 
when the filter is scraped. It is evident that such a filter, if supplied with water 
containing a large quantity of suspended matter, will rapidly become blocked. 

The total thickness of the filtering materials in the various compartments 
of Puech's filters does not exceed that usually employed in fine sand filters, but 
the arrangement is reversed, the coarser materials being placed first, so that 
the purifying action is continuous throughout the whole mass, and not on the 
surface only, as is the case when the water is first brought into contact with fine 
sand. 

The first compartment of a Puech filter contains stones or gravel 1 inch 
or more in diameter, and the fine particles of suspended matter readily pass 
through the interstices between the stones. If the speed of the filter is properly 
regulated, the particles adhere to the first surface with which they are brought 
into actual contact, so that the comparatively rapid passage of a muddy water 
through this mass of gravel will leave a deposit of mud, not on the surface only,, 
but on every stone throughout the layer. 

The passage of the water through three or four layers of gravel properly 
graded has been found to effect complete clarification. The filters are rapidly 
and efficiently cleaned automatically by means of air, and the putrefaction of 
masses of organic matter separated from the water, which occurs with ordinary 
decanting basins, is thus avoided. 

By this means the water is passed on to the finishing filter perfectly clear, 
and the filter has only to perform the bacterial and chemical purification of the 
water. Filters supplied in this way have been found to work from twelve to 
twenty- eight months without cleaning, and with uniformly constant results, 
the loss of head increased only very slightly, and the output consequently remains 
at the maximum throughout the life of the filter. 

The pre-filtration plant is so designed that the water is rendered absolutely 
clear before reaching the final slow sand filter, so that no film is formed on the 
surface of the sand. The speed of the gravel beds and pre-filters is arranged to 
effect the chemical purification, and the reduction in the number of bacteria 
in proper proportions throughout various stages of filtration. 

In the installations at Paris, Florence, and other large works on the Puech 
system, which have been erected in recent years, an arrangement for cleaning 
the gravel beds by means of air has been introduced, this method resulting in 
a great saving of time and labour. It has been found in practice that one man 
can easily control the working of a plant with an output of from 10,000,000 to 
16,000,000 gallons per twenty-four hours. 



SANITARY SCIENCE CONGRESS AT EXETER. 

I attended, as a delegate from Queensland, the Annual Congress of the 
Royal Sanitary Institute of Great Britain, held at the University College, Exeter, 
from the 7th to l2th July last. The Right Hon. Earl Fortescue presided, and 
delivered the opening address to a large number of delegates from Great Britain 
and from overseas. 



18 

Many instructive papers on sewage disposal and purification, school 
hygiene, and other cognate subjects were read and' discussed at the meetings of 
Section B. — Engineering and Architectui^e — presided over by Mr. H. P. Boulnois, 
M. Inst. C.E. Printed copies of the proceedings have been published. 



IMPERIAL MOTOPv TRANSPORT CONEERENCE. 

In compliance with your instructions of 26th April last, I attended, as 
your delegate, the Imperial Motor Transport Conference, held at Olympia, near 
Shepherd's Bush, London W., in conjunction with an exhibition of motor 
transport vehicles, from the 18th to 26th July last. H.R.H. Prince Arthur of 
Connaught was the President of the Conference, which comprised delegates from 
all parts of the British dominions. 

The principal object of the conference was to increase the general 
knowledge throughout the Empire of the enormous possibilities of motor transport 
for a great variety of trade and industrial purposes, and to bring about a better 
understanding of local requirements. 

Many excellent papers were read and discussed at the meetings of the 
conference, the full report of the proceedings of which has been printed and 
published. 

QUEBEC BRIDGE. 

A fine steel cantilever bridge is being constructed by the St. Lawrence 
Bridge Company, Limited, for the Dominion Government over the St. Lawrence 
River, at a site 9 miles above Quebec, to carry the Transcontinental Railway, 
now being constructed from Halifax to Prince Rupert, B.C. 

The bridge has been under construction for four years, and it is expected 
that another four years will elapse before its completion. It was designed and 
is being supervised under the direction of a Board of Engineers appointed by the 
Government. The main span "will be 1,800 feet, with an overhang of 580 feet 
in each of the main cantilevers, the central connecting truss girder being 640 
feet long, erected at a clear height of 150 feet above high water. The total length 
of the structure will be 3,239 feet. 

The superstructure is being manufactured by the United States Steel 
Corporation at Pittsburgh, of carbon steel and of nickel steel, the latter material 
being used in all the principal members of the cantilever arms, equal to about 
30 per cent, of the whole structure, thereby reducing the dead weight of material 
to be carried. 

Three and a-half per cent of nickel added to the steel during the process 
of manufacture increases its tensile strength by 50 per cent., thus reducing 
considerably the sectional area required to meet the stresses, and as a result 
the gross weight of the superstructure. 

The piers are of steel caissons filled with cement concrete up to a level of 
2 feet below low water, above which granite masonry with concrete hearting is 
carried up, the finishing few feet at the top of the piers being of solid granite. 

At the time of my visit the piers were completed and one of the approach 
spans erected. 

The total cost of the bridge is expected to reach £3,000,000 sterling, and 
when completed it will be one of the finest bridges in the world, and a triumph 
of engineering skill. 



19 

By the courtesy of the Chief Engineer of Construction I was shown the 
Tast number of working plans and detail sheets of the superstructure, together 
with the calculations and a large-sized model of half of the main span, showing 
the proposed method of erection of the cantilevers and other parts of the steel 
work. 

CONCLUSION. 

In conclusion, I desire to tender my hearty thanks for the opportunity 
afforded me of visiting other countries, and seeing what is being done in the 
engineering and architectural world abroad. . I trust that the information I have 
been able to gather will be of some service to my Department and to Queensland 
in the years to come. 

I have the honour to be, 

Sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

ALFRED B. BRADY, M. Inst. C.E. 

Under Secretary, Government Architect, and 

Engineer for Bridges. 



By Authority: Anthonx James Cummiko, Go-\ 



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